I've just arrived home after a few days in Wellington from The Hobbit premier. My thoughts are still a whirl from two busy days but I'll try to do a decent report for you.

I met up with entmaiden, deej, Garfeimao, rosie-with-the-ribbons, LRon and a few other at their Cuba Street hotel and we wandered down the road for dinner - passing a burlesque club that, I kid you not, had a Hobbit theme. After dinner we went down Courtenay Place to The Embassy Theatre for a drink, and left when they were giving the place a thorough clean for the premiere the next day.

By the time we left the theatre it was full dark and the streets had been closed off. Gandalf loomed above us, spotlit, before the closed door of Bag End - and then coming down the street on a flatbed truck was a grassy hill with two more Hobbit-hole doors. At the time we wondered where it would go, but as everyone has seen now it became the backdrop of a stage from where Neil Finn sang a few songs and Peter Jackson addressed the crowd on premiere day.

On Thursday morning we met up at a corner on Courtenay Place about 9.30am (I got there half an hour later, following entmaiden's directions - "We're right by the stone trolls!") and staked our spots right along the barricades. deej, rosie-with-the-ribbons and others from the tour were right on the corner next to the same trolls that were such a hit at a recent Con in the States, and entmaiden, LRon and I were a few spaces beyond. And then AlienOrchid joined us, which was great!

Thus started a long and mostly enjoyable day. For the few few hours we were free to move about and make dashes for food or 'personal comfort', and sit on the ground and stretch out - but from about 3.30pm it was all standing all the time as the crowd behind us grew (to about six or seven deep) and there was no room to move. And the day was *hot*. There was the occasional breeze but there was a bit of endurance required in the last hour or two before the red-carpet entertainment started.

Cabin crew from Air New Zealand came down the red carpet with Elf ears, and the women with Galadriel tiaras and the men with leather accoutrements. We spoke with two of the staff who featured in the Air New Zealand Hobbit safety briefing video and they were such darlings. They were handing out cards for the stars to sign and flags, and I passed some of them to people behind me to make sure they didn't miss out.

Then came some local actors dressed as Hobbits, and they looked fantastic - right down to their hairy bare feet. They stayed in character as they talked with us, and the ladies could only be called winsome.

Then came Neil Finn, singing some songs from Crowded House and his Hobbit track - and we realised that the big screen right next to us was malfunctioning. Another screen waaaay at the start of the red carpet was working but it was too far away for us to see anything worthwhile. Luckily very serious-looking engineers worked away on our nearest screen and had it operating before Neil began singing the Hobbit song - entmaiden and I cheered the engineers as they left. :D

And then came the stars! Richard Armitage was interviewed by Carol Hirschfeld who asked him what it felt like to be a Dwarf icon. Richard said, "I thought you were going to ask what it felt like to be a hot Dwarf", and our group cheered loudly as we knew Richard had picked that up from the TORN t-shirts worn by Rosie-with-the-ribbons and others on the tour when they met them after a media conference earlier that day at Te Papa museum. I saw bemused looks from other people near us who had no idea why we were so happy about his random comment. :D

We were about half-way down the red carpet and some of the actors just breezed by without interacting with the fans, but I think they realised that having spent so much time at the start of the red carpet they were running out of time to walk the entire length before the scheduled start of the movie. Others signed as many things as possible as spoke with as many of the fans as possible - Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Dean O'Gorman and Aidan Turner among them, as well as Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens (who looked gorgeous) and Richard Taylor. They were all very generous with the fans.

Richard, Martin, PJ and Philippa came right in front of us, which was a thrill. :)

Adam Brown is surprisingly tiny - there isn't much to him! Aidan and Dean, although they didn't come to our side of the red carpet, obviously have a great camaraderie. Unfortunately I didn't spot Evangeline Lily or Hugo Weaving, and I think Cate Blanchett was at the top of the red carpet around the stage and didn't walk its length.

Then at the end, Andy Serkis (bless him) ran the entire length of the red carpet up one side and down the other, slapping the outstretched hands of the cheering fans. He had a ball!

At this point we left for food - to the nearest Chinese place where I practically hoovered up my dinner, I was so hungry. We then walked along Courtenay Place again to get a close-up look at the stage - but we were so sore from standing for so long that we walked like a bunch of old biddies. The day really did take its toll, physically.

I'm so glad I stood alongside the red carpet for this - to be part of a big event for The Hobbit was such fun, but in large part because of the people I got to share it with. For the next premiere I'll be somewhere more comfortable - indoors, with a live TV feed, and wine and food at hand. ;)

There were two highlights to my trip. The first and greatest was being able to meet up with board members and spend time together and just talk about anything and everything. I remember someone once saying that there are no virtual friends: The place we meet is virtual but the friendship is real, and that was proved true again during my short time in Wellington.

The second highlight was on Tuesday night as we stood outside The Embassy Theatre looking at the Shire hill on the truck. Dozens of other fans from around the world were there as well, taking photos, talking with each other, offering to take photos of strangers on their cameras so that they could get a shot of themselves in front of the hill scene - all on a dark and pretty cold night. LRon looked at all the people around him then looked up at the sky with his arms raised as if in victory and said, "I *am* normal!"

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

I'm so thrilled that so many of you were able to meet up!! And to discover that LRon is "normal" would have been worth the trip and the struggle of the day all by itself!!! GREAT NEWS! I'm sitting here laughing because I can actually see and hear him in this proclamation!

To hear what the reality of the day's endurance was like is something I just never thought about. You got a fantastic spot... but you earned it! I smiled when you spoke about passing the cards back and cheering the technicians because it's just SO you! Supportive, aware, gracious, and geeked :)

I watched the Peter's address on the Red Carpet as he introduced everyone and thanked the rest. They all looked like they were in a surreal moment... and I laughed at Elijah taking pictures. Pictures of the other actors, pictures of the crowds... he's always done that. Nothing is taken for granted. Philippa was stunning, Peter was lit up, and the day looked beautiful.

I felt like I was there walking Cuba Street with you all... that I was standing at the barrier and sitting there waiting for the culmination of so many years of working and waiting for this moment. After so many years of support to get The Hobbit filmed... to finally be standing there waiting for Peter and Friends to come down that carpet again... and to see Andy Serkis run the length of that carpet TWICE just to make that contact with the fans has me bursting with pride and joy.

I'm so SO happy you all were able to be there together as friends who know each other so well and have been through gatherings together before. It is such a testimony of how wonderful and unique TORn is. What a world... what a world... My head is spinning as I try to wrap my mind around all of this.

Thank you for giving us this mathom report when you must be very tired and ready to just rest and reflect :) You are a treasure!

*warm hug*

I really need these new films to take me back to, and not re-introduce me to, that magical world.

Rosie-with-the-ribbons with her famous 'hot dwarves' t-shirt, deej with her One Ring t-shirt, and AlienOrchid from Christchurch! These guys had to defend their position quite staunchly against some late-comers with poor manners.

Entmaiden with one of the Air NZ crew, with her Galadriel tiara and elf ears.

Our first brush with fame: The guy on the left had the Legolas wig in the Air NZ Hobbit safety video and the guy on the right was the one with the hair dryer.

Dancing Hobbits!

The woman with this sign held it up for *hours*, before any star got near the red carpet.

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

It is so great to read these reports. It kind of puts us in the event... but it's also great to hear about the good time our friends had.

It occurs to me that perhaps the Mathom-house should have an article page on "Hot Dwarves" mostly because it's escaped from the buzz of the fan community here to a t-shirt and then a mention on the red carpet.

I've been kind of following the sequence of circumstances involving Hot Dwarves but I'd love some brainstorming on what would go into an article. Links welcome. Personal accounts welcome if we can attribute them (either by linking to a post here on the boards or just having someone recount their experience and be willing to have the footnote say something like, "information provided by ____ who was at the event" or something like that.

I love reading reports of other moots so I wanted to share as many of the small details as possible with everyone here. Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

I think we were eating when PJ was addressing the crowd. We were just exhausted and hungry and badly of need of sitting down! Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Entmaiden had a couple of girls behind her who didn't seem to realise that she couldn't move any further forward than the barrier, and one of deej's tour buddies had to give a group of girls the hard word at one point about not pushing their way in, but by and large the crowd didn't jostle. LRon let a couple of young girls move in front of him (who could only just see over the barrier themselves) and they were quite polite about it.

I did feel a little guilty being right up the front given how tall I am - I knew I'd be blocking the view of anyone behind me - but we paid our dues for the position by being there for so many hours! Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

but Kel and I had a private box while we watched the TORn feed -- her in Oz and me in Canada -- I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. So thank you TORn for providing a platform that spanned several times zones and several thousand kilometres, in order that good friends could experience the event together.

And thanks for the pics Ata... it's nice seeing Rosie, yourself, and the others. I heard the radio clip of Rosie the other day and it was wonderful.

*normal*? Then there is hope for us all! What a great report, thank you so much. I did consider going, but being pretty much hobbit sized I really don't think I would have seen a thing, apart from someone's back. And thanks for sharing the photos. It's so lovely getting together and enjoying a special experience like that. I TORn. (Not sure about hot dwarves though).

It was fun chatting with SirD too, while we both kept trying to spot you all when the cameras scanned the crowds (we think we picked out Rosie-w-t-r ) Bag ENZ Home of the Hobbit *with thanks to cameragod ;D*

One by one they faded, and fell into shadow...

One book to rule them all One book to find them One book to bring them all And in TORn bind them In the land of TORnadoes...where the brilliant play

then LRon, entmaiden and I were a few people over on her right (your left on the TV screen). Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauronís master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Great of you to keep us all informed. You must have been dead tired after standing in line all day, thanks for taking time to get us the news. And thanks for the photos, too. "If you listen closely, you can hear the gods laughing."

I wonder if you could PM me larger versions of the pics with all the folk from TORn who were there?

Meeting you guys and being there with you was really the highlight for me. It felt like 'coming home', to be with people who share the same passion! It was a shame I couldn't join you afterwards, I had planned on going out for dinner with a friend but in the end I got fish'n'chips and got straight into my sleeping bag with a hot water bottle on my poor feet.

I'll definitely post my pics when I get a chance. For now I'm sitting here basking in the memories while my partner wears the cardboard Gandalf hat I got at the market, like it ain't no thang!

I had to look at your subject line and think a few moments...
[In reply to]

Can't Post

... to try to figure out why you were grading Ataahua's write up with a B- lol. It's early and I've only had one cuppa.

Do other countries do letter grades in school? A is the best mark, going down through B, C, D and finally E or F for failing. The letter grade can inch up or down in position by tacking on a + or - symbol.

(on a side note, I was once in one of the 'dollar' type stores that was a mish mash of goods from various sources all discounted heavily. A store employee had written a scathing note in the toy section telling people not to let their kids open and play with the toys. It was full of errors in spelling and punctuation and someone had taken a red pen to it, correcting all the errors and marking the paper a D+. It was hilarious.) LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar galleryTORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide